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This Instagram Fundraiser Helps to End Homelessness

Photo credit: Heading Home to Dinner
Photo credit: Heading Home to Dinner

From House Beautiful

In this year of social distancing and remote work, the virtual event is de rigueurwhether it’s a Zoom meeting, an interview on Instagram Live, or even a dinner party hosted on social media. Such was the case for Heading Home to Dinner, an annual fundraising event founded by Boston designers Mally Skok, Elizabeth Benedict, and Kristen Rivoli to benefit Heading Home, a Boston nonprofit working to end homelessness—a subject near to the hearts of the design world, where home is of the utmost importance. For the last few years, the trio has enlisted a slew of fellow designers to outfit spectacular tables (see last year’s here!) for a splashy fundraising dinner. This year, of course, a dinner party was out of the question—but Heading Home is still in need of funding, perhaps more than ever.

“The Heading Home organization is fighting a battle on three fronts: COVID, lack of housing, and a new understanding about the racial inequity that exists in the Boston area,” Skok tells House Beautiful. “We need to keep up the drumbeat.”

Enter Pause for Peace, a social media campaign created to take the place of the dinner but still encourage unity and generosity. In a video posted to social media, the three founders explain the story of the Heading Home to Dinner fundraiser, which grew out of friendships in the design community in Boston and a desire to connect with—and help—neighbors by making use of creative talent. They also address how an increased focus on racial inequity this year has highlighted the imbalance between homelessness and access to health care, making Heading Home’s work that much more important.

“Our world has slowed to a halt in 2020—the pandemic has rocked communities and economies,” explains Suzanne Pilcher, Heading Home’s head of development. “And in the midst of our lost vibrancy is a door that has been opened for all to see the inequities in the world. Sitting in the seat of immense challenge are our clients—individuals and families who are now tackling more than their homelessness.”

Pilcher, along with the Heading Home to Dinner founders, hopes the message encourages members of the design community to contribute to Heading Home’s cause—no matter how small or large the donation. “If ever there was a time when our communities needed love and support, it’s now,” says Skok. “We could not let the date go by without telling Boston that we were still here, still supporting our friends and neighbors. So we are making a video asking for a small donation, anything that can help Heading Home in this terribly difficult time.”

Click here to make a donation.

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